Tasmanian migrant groups benefit from community kitchen trial

On a Sunday morning the kitchen at the Inveresk Tavern is usually closed and lifeless, but for the past six weeks it has been brought to life by local migrant groups.

With help from the Migrant Resource Centre, the community kitchen program gives local migrant groups the chance to use the commercial kitchen for the day to serve lunch using food inspired by their homeland.

Jug Rai is from the Bhutanese community of Tasmania, and while other members were busy preparing and cooking food, he said this was a great opportunity to share a small piece of culture.

"It is important because we have been here not so long and we want to introduce our cultural food, and also we want to expose to the wider community of Tasmania," Mr Rai said.

"We feel very excited because this is the first time we have had this opportunity, and we are very happy and we want to continue this."

As well as the chance to share some international cuisine with the Tasmanian community, the kitchen offers a range of other opportunities to the migrant groups.

"They will be helped with many skills like communications skills and customer service skills, and they'll also have an opportunity to learn teamwork," Mr Rai said.

Publican Charlie Rayner said he had had the idea in mind for a while, and now it had finally become a reality, he could not be happier with the way it was running.

"It seems to have resonated with those from culturally diverse backgrounds, and with the assistance of the migrant resource centre, we will run this program for 12 weeks and it's been very successful," Mr Rayner said.

As well as giving the local community the chance to experience international food from different countries, Mr Rayner said the experience of using a commercial kitchen would be a valuable one.

"All of the funds that they raise go to their community group, and more importantly it's neutral territory for them to get some interaction with the public," he said.